One Fine Day
by Trolley
Summary: *FORMERLLY MURDER AT BEAR CREEK MOUNTAIN. IF YOU'VE READ BEFORE, READ IT AGAIN, IT'S A LOT BETTER! R/R PLEASE!* When Steve and Jesse go on a campimg trip and Jesse witnesses a murder, the guys have to get out fast. But will they get away in time?
1. A Long Vacation...

Disclaimer: I don't own Diagnosis Murder, or any of this cool stuff, I'm just borrowing it… indefinitely… but the murderers and the dead girl and the mountain itself -- they're all mine! Hmm, I didn't come out too bad…   
  
*************  
  
"This is gonna be great!" Jesse Travis exclaimed, clumsily climbing into the passenger seat of Steve Sloan's truck.  
  
"Yep. Sleeping under the stars by a campfire...," Steve agreed.  
  
"Telling ghost stories, roasting marshmallows...," Jesse continued.  
  
When Steve suggested that Jesse come with him on a camping trip the next time they both had a few days off, Jesse had literally jumped at the opportunity. He had never really been camping before and naturally wanted to see what it was like. But now, only fifteen minutes into the drive to the campsite, they were already grating on each other's nerves.  
  
"Steve, please, I really gotta go!" Jesse pleaded, wiggling in his seat like the six year-old he sometimes acted like.  
  
"Jesse, I told you to go before we left!" Steve growled, obviously annoyed. *Dad warned me, why can't I ever listen?!*  
  
"I didn't have to go then," Jesse whined in a playfully sheepish tone.  
  
Steve sighed, conceded, and pulled off the next exit. "I need something to eat anyway."  
  
***  
  
Roughly fifteen minutes later, the guys were back on the road with full stomachs, empty bladders, and in good spirits.  
  
"So what's this place like anyway? Any dangers I should know about?" Jesse questioned half-playfully, trying to make conversation.  
  
Steve chuckled. "Nothing we can't handle! But really, you'll love it. It's beautiful. There's waterfalls, a few hiking trails, and it's usually deserted because hardly anyone knows about it."  
  
They sat in silence for a few minutes until Jesse voiced one of many thoughts bouncing around in that cute little head of his. "How deserted is it, really?"  
  
Steve stopped the truck in a clearing amidst the wooded landscape. "Well, I guess you'll find out. Here we are." 


	2. Nature vs. Civilization (Steve vs. Jesse...

The two friends got out and stretched, admiring the beauty of nature around them. Steve was right, the place was definitely beautiful. A few trees were scattered about the foot of a huge, not-very-steep-from-that-side mountain, which Jesse assumed they were going to hike around. Birds were chirping all around them, the breeze fluttered through their hair, and Jesse thought he heard a waterfall in the distance.  
  
Jesse retrieved his stuff from the back of Steve's truck and asked him, "So where are we setting up camp?"  
  
Steve also loaded his stuff on his back, took one look at a very loaded down Jesse and nearly burst into laughter. "I thought I told you to pack light!"   
  
Jesse gave his innocent, dejected look. "I did! You won't find anything short of necessities in any of my belongings!"  
  
Steve glared at the cute little smug look on his friend's face and roughly opened the pack on his back, almost knocking the smaller man to the ground. He rummaged around for a second before retrieving an odd-feeling object. "A radiator heater?! Honestly Jess, have you ever heard of fire?"  
  
Jesse protectively grabbed the clunky, yet compact, radiator. "I'll have you know this is the finest quality Miniature Battery-Powered Kenmore Radiator Heater." He continued, despite Steve's look of exasperation. "What if it rains? You can't very well light a fire in the rain!"  
  
"Leave it," Steve ordered.  
  
Jesse reluctantly dropped it in Steve's truck bed. After a thorough search through Jesse's backpack, the heater was not alone in the bed of the truck. Steve had persuaded Jesse to part with about 70 pounds worth of useless junk, amongst which there were a mini television and a lava lamp, both battery powered.  
  
Jesse, not wanting to admit that he did, indeed, feel about 70 pounds lighter, rearranged his pack on his back and was again almost knocked off balance when Steve zipped it up. "I just know we're going to end up needing those fold-up crutches," he muttered. "Why were you so adamant around packing light? It's not like we're climbing a mountain or anything." The sparkling smile gradually vanished from Jesse's face as Steve nodded.   
  
"It's not as bad as it looks," Steve said reassuringly.  
  
"Yeah, that's what they said about open heart surgery," Jesse grumbled grimly. "Can I at least get my laptop?"   
  
"Come on, Jess." Steve rolled his eyes and decided that this was going to be a very long weekend. 


	3. The Witness

Approximately a mile or two later, Steve stopped at a small clearing on the trail and unloaded his supplies. He decided to rest on a boulder while waiting for Jesse, who trailed about twenty feet behind him. Steve watched a small sparrow as it flew down from the top of a nearby pine tree and lighted upon a small rock pile, diligently pecking at the dirt. His eyes lazily followed the bird as it flew off into the distance. Then they traveled to the source of the sparrow's frightening as a blonde, sweaty head finally emerged over the ridge.   
  
"Isn't it beautiful, Jess?" Steve greeted cheerily.  
  
As if in answer, a panting, beet-red Jesse promptly collapsed to the ground.  
  
Steve knelt down next to him with a water bottle. "Dehydrated?"  
  
Jesse grabbed the bottle and put his hand on Steve's arm. "Bless you, you kind man."  
  
Steve couldn't help but chuckle as he rose to his feet. "Sure. Don't drink too fast, you'll make yourself sick," he warned as he began digging a pit for the fire.  
  
Jesse finished his water and pulled himself up against a boulder, gradually regaining his breath. "Why didn't you tell me we were hiking ten miles up a mountain?"  
  
"It was barely two miles, Jess. And if I had told you it was this far, things would have been a lot worse for both of us. You were complaining enough anyway." He paused as he looked around for some sticks to use for a fire. "You okay?"  
  
Jesse wiped his brow as he seemed to consider the query. "I'll live. I hope."  
  
"Well, in that case, you think you could go gather some firewood? Please?"  
  
"Sure, fine, of course, no problem," Jesse responded sarcastically, trying to stand. "...that is, if I can get up."  
  
He finally did, and stumbled off to gather the wood. Jesse, being the curious creature that he is, decided he wanted to venture a little farther than necessary. He stopped momentarily, with his arms full of sticks and branches, as he noticed some commotion in another clearing across the woods. He stopped behind a large oak tree and quietly spied on the scene of two angry men and one rather nice-looking woman. She was screaming, and the men were beating her and yelling something thankfully unintelligible. "Steve!" Jesse called, a bit too loudly. One of the men looked over to a small clearing behind him and saw Jesse watching. He stood up and raised a gun toward the woods as the other man finished the woman off with a cracking blow to the head. Jesse soon realized he had been spotted and dropped the wood in a heap at his feet, scrambling away as fast as he could. "Steve!" He heard a gunshot and hit the ground, staying there with his eyes closed until he heard no more noise. Then he got up and ran back to camp almost faster than his legs could carry him. 


	4. You've Got to be Kidding Me...

Steve vaguely heard that familiar, bright voice calling him from the woods. He glanced up from unrolling his sleeping bag and saw Jesse running for camp full speed. "Jesse, what in the world is going on? And where's the firewood?"  
  
"Steve, we gotta get outta here!" Jesse panted, sounding like a lunatic. "There's these two guys, about half a mile away, through the woods, they killed this lady, and they saw me looking, and they tried to shoot me, and they're gonna come after me, I just know it, we've gotta go now, help me Steve!" He continued to panic, jumping into Steve's arms.  
  
Steve just stood there, a bit more than mildly puzzled. He was accustomed to Jesse's rants, but he wasn't sure he wanted to know what was going on this time. Finally he simply dropped Jesse to the ground. "What are you talking about?!"  
  
Jesse clambered to his feet, rubbed his bum, and continued rambling at his consistent pace of about a hundred words per second. "I'm a murder witness! Those guys are trying to kill me! We've gotta leave!"  
  
Steve started to get the feeling that this was serious. "Jess, are you sure they saw you?"  
  
"He looked right at me! And besides, who else is up here at Bear Creek Mountain?!" he exclaimed, beginning to calm down from exhaustion.  
  
"True." Steve tried to reason with his still hyper friend. "Well, they don't know exactly where you are, we're in a very secluded area, and it's getting pretty dark. We'd better just have dinner and get some rest. We can take turns keeping watch, then leave in the morning and notify the police."  
  
"No!" Jesse shouted, getting jumpy again. "No dinner! Dinner equals fire, fire equals light, which means they find me, which means dead Jesse!"  
  
"Fine, we don't need a fire, but if I don't eat something, they'll find you because they hear my stomach growling." Steve rummaged through their belongings and pulled out a pack of crackers.  
  
Jesse still wasn't convinced. "Steve, let's get out of here now." He began to pace, but his exhaustion started to get the better of him.  
  
Steve opened his mouth to say something but closed it as he caught Jesse, who had stumbled and started to fall. He lowered his bleary-eyed friend to his sleeping bag. "You, buddy, need sleep. We're not going anywhere tonight."   
  
"No, Steve," he panted, "we have to leave, now."  
  
"Jesse, look. What do you see?"  
  
Jesse lifted his eyes and tried to focus on anything besides the thick blackness. "Nothing, where?"  
  
"Exactly. Jesse, these woods are dangerous, and hard to travel, especially in the dark. We're secluded, they won't find us here." He made himself comfortable for the long night ahead of him. "I'll take the first watch and wake you up in a couple hours, okay?"  
  
His only response was a light snore accompanied by a few owls and the sounds of a few other miscellaneous nocturnal beings.  
  
"Hey Jess?" Steve turned to his friend, who was already sound asleep.  
  
Steve chuckled. He remembered what his dad told him about not being too hard on Jesse if he couldn't keep up. *Poor little guy. His first camping trip, and I drag him halfway up a mountain, only for him to witness a murder and get scared out of his mind. Oh well, he'll live.* Steve chuckled to himself again, draping another blanket over Jesse's small, shivering form. 


	5. The Departure

About five hours later, Steve could barely stay awake any longer, and Jesse's nearly incessant mumbling was getting very annoying. It was almost dawn, so he decided to wake Jesse, hoping that he had forgotten about his panic.  
  
"Jesse, hey Jess, wake up, it's your turn," Steve whispered, shaking his friend.  
  
Jesse rolled over. "Just five more minutes Susan, it's not my turn to make breakfast."  
  
Steve snickered for the first time in hours and shook him some more. "Jesse, it's Steve, you need to get up and take over."  
  
Jesse groggily opened his eyes. "Huh? Oh, sure Steve, I'm up." He quickly got up and became alert right away, remembering his panic, much to Steve's chagrin. "Oh my goodness, I'm not dead! They haven't gotten me yet?"  
  
"No, now hush and keep a watch out." Steve wearily crawled into the warm comfort of his sleeping bag, knowing that he wouldn't get to stay there long.  
  
"Steve," Jesse whispered loudly.  
  
Steve only growled in answer.  
  
Jesse continued, shaking fear evident in his voice. "Steve can we leave now?"  
  
Steve thought he was going to cry. "Jesse, please, I need sleep!" he whimpered pathetically. "Just an hour or so, please!"  
  
The young doctor sighed shakily. "Okay Steve, I'm sorry, go to sleep." Jesse felt the panic rising in him. He jumped at every owl hoot. But soon, the need for more sleep threatened to overtake him and he did everything he could think of to keep himself awake. It seemed like an hour, though it was actually about fifteen minutes, before he heard some rustling in the woods. He dove to the ground next to the cover of Steve in his sleeping bag, playing dead, just as a bullet whizzed past them. He lay there for a moment, as motionless as his shuddering body could be, as Steve woke up.  
  
"Jesse, what are you doing?!" the enraged lieutenant mumbled.  
  
"Shh, I'm supposed to be dead!" came Jesse's muffled voice from his face buried in the ground.  
  
"Oh, oh, of course!" Steve pushed Jesse away and tried to go back to sleep.  
  
Jesse finally got up and shook Steve. "Steve, get up, we have to get out of here!"  
  
"Grr, I thought you were supposed to be dead." Steve shoved Jesse away again and rolled over.  
  
Jesse wasn't about to give up. "Not anymore, get up!"  
  
Steve could tell it was hopeless. He had to admit that Jesse was right, it definitely wasn't safe. But no, he wasn't going to admit it to Jesse. He sat up and yawned, the dull rays of the rising sun peeking up over the tree-lined horizon and piercing his bleary eyes. "Fine. It's just about dawn anyway."  
  
Jesse began gathering up their supplies. He loaded both packs up on his own small back and fell over.  
  
Steve laughed and quickly rolled up his sleeping bag. "Jesse, wait one second, I gotta get my stuff together and then we can start the--" He added sarcastic dread into his voice. "--two-mile hike down the mountain."  
  
"Oh, don't remind me!" Jesse sighed as he put down Steve's things and helped him get everything together. He quickly remembered to be nervous again. "Alright, you're ready, I'm ready, let's go!" 


	6. The Accident

The two began their trek down the woody mountain trail, this time not caring about the beautiful scenery. Jesse was looking over his shoulder practically every two seconds.  
  
"Jess, relax! Over-reacting and panicking isn't going to get us down any faster. Besides, you're making me nervous."  
  
"Yeah, well you would be too if you were being stalked by murderers!"  
  
Steve exasperatedly sighed and walked ahead of Jesse, who was still panicking. *I wish he would get a grip.* But Jesse's fears were made manifest when they both heard something behind them. Steve quickly spun around into a defensive stance, his hand on his gun at his side. Jesse on the other hand, not being quite so dexterous in all his panic, whirled around and fell to the ground, landing hard on his strangely twisted foot. Meanwhile, a bullet zipped past the place where his head had been.  
  
"Jesse, get in the bush, quick!" Steve ordered, dragging his friend into the shrubs that just happened to be so handily located behind them. He subtly peeked out from behind the bush to check for any more eminent danger as he not quite so subtly yelled at Jesse. "Jess, you're lucky you fell when you did! You almost got shot in the head!" Steve just now looked over at his friend, who was clutching his leg in pain. "Jess, what's the matter?! What happened?"  
  
Jesse's voice squeaked with the pain and tears glistened in his bright gray-blue eyes. "It's my ankle! I-I twisted it when I fell! Ohhh, it hurts!" he whimpered. "Steve, I don't know if I can walk!"  
  
A million thoughts raced through Steve's head as he tried to do something for his injured friend. "Okay Jesse, calm down, you'll be all right." He began to rumage through Jesse's pack. "Where's that ten-pound first aid kit?" He found and opened the large box of medical supplies and retrieved an elastic bandage while Jesse carefully began unlacing his shoe and oh-so-painfully took it off, assessing the damage. The throbbing ankle was swelling and beginning to turn purple.  
  
"Oooo, is it supposed to look like that?" Steve tried to humor his buddy.  
  
Jesse didn't get the joke (for once in his life.) "Well my other one doesn't, if that's what you mean," Jesse hissed as he scrutinized his swollen foot. He then realized what he had said and attempted an apologetic grin. "It's a bad sprain, but I don't think it's broken. It's hard to tell though."   
  
Steve took the bandage and wrapped it around Jesse's ankle. "Too tight?"  
  
Jesse shook his head. "Fine."  
  
Steve finished wrapping the bandage. "Do you think you can put any weight on it?"  
  
"I could if I had those crutches that you made me leave behind!" Jesse snorted, smirking. He put it aside and got serious as Steve glared halfway menacingly at him. "I'm not sure, help me up." Steve pulled his injured friend's arm around his neck and lifted him off the ground ... all the way off the ground.  
  
Jesse grimaced at him. "Heh, this isn't gonna work."  
  
Steve lowered him back to the ground on one unsteady foot. Jesse attempted a tentative limp on the toes of his sprained foot, sending even more pain shooting through it.   
  
Steve caught Jesse as his ankle gave out and he started to collapse. "Do you think you can make it down?" he asked hopefully, gently lowering Jesse to the boulder behind him. "It's pretty steep."  
  
*Stupid question,* Jesse thought as he looked down the precipitous mountain. "Steve, I'm not even sure if I could make it down anyway. It looked a lot less steep on the way up."  
  
"Jess, that was the trail on the other side of the mountain. This way was much quicker." Steve thought for a moment, a bit exasperated. "Well, I guess we'll have to try to make it over there and get down that way. But we have to get moving." He again helped Jesse to a foot and took his cell phone out of his pocket. 


	7. Help Is On the Way

"I'll try to call the police, or my dad, or anyone, maybe I'll get some reception this time." After what seemed the upteenth try, Steve finally reached Mark. "Dad? H-hey, Dad?"  
  
Mark felt good to hear his son's voice, even through all the static. "Steve! Hey, what's up? How are you two doing?"  
  
"Hey Dad, I'm fine. Hey listen Dad, we're up here on Bear Creek, and Jesse witnessed a murder. The murderers are trying to kill him, so we have to get out fast--"  
  
"Steve, get down!" Jesse pulled Steve into some more conveniently located brush as a bullet flew past.  
  
"Hey Jesse, get my gun. Dad, we have to get out of here, but we can't get down the mountain."  
  
Mark could tell that the situation was not looking good. "Why not?"  
  
"Because Jesse sprained his ankle and he can hardly walk."  
  
Jesse leaned over to the phone. "Hey Mark!"  
  
"Oh no." Mark chuckled as he heard Jesse's sarcastically cheery voice over the phone. "Hey Jesse! Well, Amanda and I will be there as soon as we can, about a half-hour. Have you called the police yet?"  
  
"This is the first call I've been able to get through."  
  
"Okay, well, I'll bring them too. Steve, be careful."  
  
"Will do, Dad."  
  
"And make sure Jesse stays off that ankle as much as possible."  
  
"Yeah Dad." He paused. "I love you."  
  
"Love you too, Son." Mark hung up the phone. He was worried. Steve hadn't ended a phone conversation like that with him for a long while. He turned to Amanda. "You ready?"  
  
"Ever since they left." Amanda grinned at Mark and gathered her things. "What exactly happened? Did they strangle each other?"  
  
"No, actually, you won't believe it this time, honey. I'll tell you about it on the way." 


	8. Not Again...

"Jesse, did you get him?" Steve put his cell phone back in his pocket and took his rifle back from Jesse.  
  
"Yeah, I did! I can't tell if he's dead though, I don't think so. Come on Steve, let's go cuff him!" He started to get up, supporting himself with a huge tree branch.  
  
Steve pushed him down. "No, I don't think so, Jess. I'll get him. I promised my dad I'd keep you off your foot. And what's the stick for?" he asked, referring to the branch Jesse brandished at him.  
  
Jesse grinned. "He may not be fully unconscious. And be careful. I'm sure your dad made you promise to do that, too."  
  
Steve took the branch, rolling his eyes at Jesse. "Don't worry. Ya know Jess, you come up with the weirdest ideas." But as Steve approached the wounded murderer, he noticed slight movement. Realizing Jesse wasn't all wrong, he quickly incapacitated the man with the stick and handcuffed him. He glanced over at Jesse, who was grinning and giving him a look that said, "I told you so!"  
  
Steve hurried back to the bush to wait for the other man.  
  
"How far to the other side?" Jesse asked, rubbing his ankle.  
  
"Well, we could go down at this spot, it's just the fact of needing an opportunity. We'll be back on the ground before you know it," Steve smiled, trying to be encouraging. He couldn't stand to see his friend in such pain. "How's your ankle doing?"  
  
"I don't know, it still really hurts. I'm gonna take another look at it." Jesse unwrapped his ankle and tried to better figure out what was wrong. It was swollen to about the size of his calf, and it was bright purple all around.  
  
Steve took one look and cringed. "Eee, that makes me hurt just looking at it."  
  
"Yeah, I bet. How do you think I feel?"  
  
"I'm sorry," Steve consoled, half sarcastically. "You think it's just a sprain?"  
  
Jesse winced as he tried to get his foot in a correct position to properly examine it. "Yeah, I don't think it's broken."  
  
"That's good."  
  
Steve turned back around, gun in hand, and waited for the other man. Eventually, a large armed man appeared and knelt beside the other, seeing if he was still alive. Steve pointed the gun at the man and stepped out of the bushes. "Freeze."  
  
The man put his arms out, a gun in one of the hands. "Who wants me to?"  
  
"Lieutenant Steve Sloan, LAPD."  
  
"Yeah, I'm sure you are!" the man snorted. "So where's the little witness?"  
  
Steve thought fast. "He's running to get help right now."  
  
"Ha!" The man laughed. "You think I'm stupid? I've been watching you two. That guy can hardly walk, much less run! I think he's in the bushes right about ... there."   
  
He pointed with his gun at the bush behind Steve and fired before Steve could blink. All that Steve and the other man heard was the bushes rustling and Jesse crying out in pain. Steve just knew the bullet had hit him, but he also knew that if he went to check on Jesse, the man would shoot him. So he just stood there in shock.  
  
"What's wrong with you? I just shot your friend. And I'm gonna shoot you right now." The man raised his rifle, and Steve raised his.  
  
"Well, I just remembered something. The police are coming." He mentally cursed himself for being so stupid. *They can't get here this fast! What are we going to do?* But as if by some act of God, the LAPD squad cars, along with an ambulance and Mark Sloan's sports car came to the rescue at that very moment. "Oh, look, here they are right now," Steve quipped. 


	9. Male Bonding?

Several officers climbed up the easy incline of the mountain and escorted the murders down. While this was happening, Steve hurriedly knelt down by the bush to see if Jesse was all right.  
  
"Jesse, are you okay, did he get you?"  
  
Jesse looked up at him, his head cocked to one side. "No, I'm all right."  
  
"Then what was that scream for?" Steve asked, helping Jesse up.  
  
Jesse winced as he rose to his foot. "Well, it scared me! And when I jumped back, I wrenched my ankle and it really hurt."  
  
They started, slowly but surely, walking down. "You scared me to death. I thought you were shot!"  
  
"Sorry," Jesse gasped through clenched teeth.   
  
Steve could tell that his friend was in great pain, and at that pace, they would never reach the bottom. *Oh, he's small enough.* Steve abruptly scooped Jesse up off the ground and tossed him over his shoulder.  
  
"Whoa!!! Steve, what do you think you're doing!?!?"  
  
"At the rate we were going, we would've never gotten down."  
  
Jesse felt mischievous. "Oh, Steve, you're so big and strong," he drawled in a rather feminine voice.  
  
Steve smacked his buddy on the butt. "You keep that up and I drop you."  
  
"Ow! Hey, I was just kidding!"  
  
Steve put Jesse down as they reached the bottom and found Mark and Amanda.  
  
"Jesse! Steve!" Amanda yelled, embracing Jesse in a bear hug and trying to contain her laughter at the sight she had just witnessed between two of her best friends. "What happened to you?!" Even through all the laughter, worry and concern were still very evident in her voice.  
  
"Oh, it's a long story! Hey, thanks for saving us!" Jesse quipped, still leaning heavily in Steve.  
  
Mark released his son from a big hug. "Jess, how's your ankle?"  
  
"Not too good, it's badly sprained."  
  
Mark sat Jesse down and unwrapped his foot as and officer approached the witnesses.  
  
"Lieutenant Sloan?" an officer called. "Dr. Travis? Do you think you two could answer a few questions for us?" A few cops approached them and the two answered some questions and agreed to testify, should it come to that. After few minutes, the four were on their way back to Community General, the guys telling their story as Mark examined Jesse's ankle. 


	10. The Understatement of Exageration

Susan walked into the lounge at the hospital and found Mark, Steve, and Amanda sitting on the couch, with Jesse in a wheelchair, his left foot in a cast.  
  
"Jesse!" she cried, running up to her boyfriend. "What are you doing back so soon?"  
  
"Well, it's great to see you too Susan!"  
  
"Oh my goodness Jesse, you're hurt! What happened?!"  
  
"Well, you see, my dear--"  
  
Steve could see that this would take a while. "He sprained his ankle," he finished.   
"Actually, he broke it, but he thought it was just a sprain. X-rays revealed a fracture."  
  
"You know Jesse, I still can't believe you didn't know you broke your own ankle." Mark tried to suppress a chuckle.  
  
Jesse looked defensive. "It's a hairline fracture! And it's not like I could x-ray it or anything. Steve made me leave my portable x-ray machine behind," he added under his breath. Jesse looked up at Susan, who was gazing at him pitifully. "Oh, come on Susan, it's not that bad! Now let me finish my story. See, there were these guys up there, and I saw them killing this girl, and I tried to stop them ..." His voice trailed off as they left the lounge together.  
  
Mark shook his head. "Sounds like you two had fun!"  
  
Steve rolled his eyes. "Oh, it was a blast. Now do you two want to hear the real story?"  
  
THE END 


End file.
